Separate Ways
by Terresquall
Summary: Squall fears losing Rinoa, and has frequent nightmares about losing her. Rinoa is unable to cope with her new sorceress powers, and fears she would eventually hurt Squall. Will they go their separate ways? New Chapter up!
1. Prologue

Prologue

_I'll be here...  
Why...  
I'll be 'waiting'... here...  
For what?  
I'll be waiting... for you... so...  
If you come here...  
You'll find me...  
I promise.  
**Promise?** _

Squall stood alone. A vast desert surrounded him, its ground dry and cracked. There was no sun in the sky, but a featureless blanket of darkness.

"I am alone,"

A shooting star darts across the sky, and Squall catches a glimpse of it. He quickly faces left, but the shooting star was gone, leaving a trail of white in the sky. He frowns slightly.

"Rinoa," Squall remembered, "where're you?"

Squall began walking. He wanted to find Rinoa - he had to. He started walking forward, not knowing where he was headed.

For hours Squall walked the desert, only to find more desert terrain rising out of the horizon. It felt as though he was going round in circles, though he knew that he was walking straight. His knees were buckling now, and Rinoa was nowhere to be found. As he took his next step, his legs gave way, and Squall fell onto dry, rough dirt, his elbows grazed. He gasped slightly from the pain.

"Am I… Am I alone again?" Squall whispered in a mingle of fear and despair. He could not stand the thought of losing Rinoa. He was not prepared to return to his life of solitude and loneliness. He hated them, and he began to hate Rinoa for leaving him so suddenly, denying him his supposed happiness. "I… I need to be strong…"

Squall's vision began to fade, and he felt an overwhelming exhaustion suddenly. Breathing became hard. Squall was gasping for air. It was hard to keep his eyes open. In the distance, Rinoa seemed to be waving to him in a field of flowers – a beckoning wave not, but a farewell.

"Rinoa," Squall called out with all the strength he could muster, but it was only barely louder than a whisper. His strength had left him, and he faded into darkness – falling in darkness.

Squall awoke on a cold hard floor, subtly startled. He sat up, and beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. A photo of a beaming Rinoa stood on his desk, beside his ornate "Lionheart" necklace. Squall reached for the framed photograph and grabbed it. Holding it near his chest with both hands, he felt a warmth that he hadn't felt for the past thirteen years.

"Rinoa…"

-

Rinoa tumbled and turned in her bed, not daring to sleep. She feared her powers would manifest again in her sleep - it might not leave something as simple as a wrecked bedroom again.

Rinoa knew she could not contain nor command her new sorceress powers, and that everyone around her was a liability – helpless victims of her lethal powers should they begin to manifest themselves. She knew that she would have to lead a life alone if she did not want any harm to come upon her friends, but she was also afraid of loneliness.

She knew Squall was – too. His seeming impeccable shell is a façade – a strong defense that prevents damage to his tender feelings inside. He used to shut himself up away from everyone, so that he would not become close to someone and create a dependency on them. Squall had changed tremendously since then, and has shown willingness to open up to his closer friends. Rinoa knew that, however, if she were to suddenly express desire to leave, or had left suddenly, Squall would retreat back into that emotional shell of his and fortify his 'defenses' even further.

It was a hard decision to make for Rinoa. She would be causing chaos either way, and there seemed to be no way to avoid it. She did not want to talk to Squall about it, for she knew Squall would abandon everything he had to be her knight. Moreover, should she become an enemy of the world somehow, she did not want to drag Squall down with her.

Rinoa resolved to make a decision – she was determined to do it tonight. Tears began to well up in her eyes, like it always did every night, and she realised again, the seeming impossibility of making a choice. Rinoa shut her eyes and let her tears flow down her cheeks, only to have more of it well up in her eyes, like always. However, something was different this time – she had come upon a decision.


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter I**

_A promise…_

_A tryst between us…_

_One that will last…us through_

_Our whole lives…_

"Ri… Rinoa," Squall stuttered, knocking on the dormitory door. He was tense, and he knew the composure that he always felt he had was lost.

The doorknob turned, and soon the door began to open.

"Rinoa, care to join me for breakfast?" Squall said as the door slowly opened, trying hard to keep his voice from being shaky.

"No," a cute voice replied with a giggle.

"Alright," Squall replied quickly, feeling extremely disappointed for awhile before realising that the voice did not belong to Rinoa.

The door had fully opened now. A cute girl stood in front of Squall, clad in a plain white nightgown. Her reddish-brown hair was rather unkempt, flowing messily down her sides, though her fringe still neatly covered her forehead.

"Hi," the cute girl said after awhile, breaking the momentary silence.

"Selphie, where's Rinoa?" Squall asked, trying hard not to sound annoyed.

"She's gone out," Selphie replied, succumbing to a long yawn afterwards. "I'm not sure where. She wasn't here when I woke up. I not pulling your leg this time!" Selphie did a hand gesture to further show that she was telling the truth.

Squall still doubted Selphie's words. Not wanting to drag this conversation further, Squall hastily gestured a goodbye to Selphie and headed off. His cheeks felt rather warm, and he realised that Selphie had just been trying to suppress her giggling.

"You might wanna check out the Quad!" Selphie shouted after Squall with another giggle.

_The Quad, _Squall thought to himself, quickening his footsteps on the thought of meeting Rinoa.

It was a quick five-minute walk to the Quad. Selphie wasn't lying – Rinoa stood at the balcony in a sky blue blouse, her hair bellowing gently with the wind. Squall felt tense again, not knowing how best to approach Rinoa. He quickly decided upon a quick tap on her shoulder.

Rinoa turned around. Her face seemed to be revealing a worry-laden heart, but she quickly grinned at the sight of Squall, erasing all traces of anxiety from her visage. Seeing her joy, Squall smiled gently.

"Hello!" Rinoa said, beaming.

"Care to um… join me for breakfast?" Squall asked, trying to hide all traces of inconfidence.

"Breakfast? Oh breakfast!"

"You don't seem yourself today," Squall said with concern.

Rinoa stared off in the distance, falling into a daze. She seemed to be thinking hard about something.

"Are you okay?" Squall asked, waving a hand in front of her.

"Oh, of course!" Rinoa said cheerfully with a grin. "I'll see you around,"

Waving a goodbye to Squall, Rinoa walked off hastily. Squall thought he saw a glimmer of tears in her eyes as she left.

"Breakfast?" Squall asked softly, but Rinoa did not turn around. She probably did not hear him.

Squall stood alone on the balcony, lost and downtrodden. Rinoa seemed to be avoiding him, and showing it more evidently as the days passed. Did Rinoa not love him anymore? Was he going to lose her, like he lost 'sis'?

_I have to be prepared for anything, _Squall thought to himself. Facing the direction of the cool balcony breeze, he closed his eyes and felt the wind caress his hair and face. It was going to be hard.


End file.
